


this choice of yours

by MiniNephthys



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, M/M, One-Sided Relationship, maybe it's complicated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 06:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17340383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniNephthys/pseuds/MiniNephthys
Summary: When Brumm asks to leave the troupe, the only answer Grimm allows himself is yes.





	this choice of yours

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rukafais](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rukafais/gifts).



> Dedicated to Ruka, who made me ship this extremely upsetting ship.

Above all else, above the Ritual and the continuation of the Flame, Grimm prizes choice.

It is a choice to join the Troupe. It is a choice to participate in the Ritual, even once you have lit the lantern. It is a choice open at any time to leave the Troupe, to forget everything about Grimm and live a normal life.

So when Brumm stands before him, head bowed, and says, “Master… sorry. Must leave the troupe,” his answer should be clear. And yet, a part of him wants to ask Brumm to reconsider, to plead with him to stay, to tell him that the troupe needs him.

It is a part of himself that he cannot allow to exist as who and what he is. He squashes it and says, “As you wish, it shall be done.”

“…Thank you. Master.” Brumm doesn’t lift his head.

Banishing a member of the troupe is a quick process that can be done from anywhere, with a hand on Brumm’s shoulder and a few murmured words. Grimm doesn’t let himself hesitate any longer - Brumm may decide to stay only to please him, and that is unacceptable.

But he does append, “I will miss you,” to the end of the spell. The one concession to his own feelings. Harmless, when the words will immediately be forgotten.

* * *

Brumm’s original world no longer exists. Grimm leaves him in a kingdom he had been fond of, one that’s found a way to rebuild even after the Ritual was partially performed. He does not remember how he came to be there, but that’s alright. Brumm is a kind bug: he’ll find companionship easily.

Grimm can only observe through dreams. He should leave Brumm’s dreams be, let him live a quiet life untainted by the Troupe, and yet.

One look won’t hurt. As long as he doesn’t disturb anything in Brumm’s mind, one more look won’t hurt.

Brumm - he’s using his original name now, but Grimm can’t think of him as anything else - plays his music in a quiet town. He’s made friends with an elderly bug and a mapmaker, and the rest of his neighbors are gradually becoming fonder of him.

He visits the confessor frequently, bringing all sorts of food, and every time the confessor apologizes. She can see the stain of his regret, but it’s in no form that she can summon, nor anywhere he can go to himself.

Grimm tells himself ‘one more look’ every time, up until the day of the Ritual.

The Ritual is completed, as it always is. The father burns, the child is fed. The shape of Grimm’s feelings for the Brumm who played music to settle them to sleep change, but the memory of their predecessor’s love stays. The child, no longer a mere child, continues to peer into Brumm’s subconscious.

Brumm grows older. He meets another bug and falls in love. They have a child. He stays with that child, raising them with love. He no longer worries over his missing memories or asks the confessor for his regrets.

Choice, Grimm tells themself. It was his choice. It shouldn’t hurt.

And even if it does, that’s just a pain that they’ll have to accept.


End file.
